Flying

I've heard private jets described in many ways over the years, but this was a first.
"It works really good as a canoe," joked Dale Printy, director of technical services for Worthington Aviation, the company charged with product support for the Westwind series of business aircraft.

It's one of the most visited destinations in the air charter world: the Web. But finding the best ways to take advantage of it has challenged charter providers and customers since the start of the dot-com revolution. Virgin Charter's idea for a one-stop online booking portal closed down almost as quickly as it popped up.

When industry observers speculate about the future of the four biggest fractional-jet-share providers, the company that often prompts the most discussion is Flight Options. That's because it has arguably undergone more change than its competitors while also lacking the protection afforded by being under a large corporate umbrella.

Conceptually, it makes sense: share the expenses of a flight among unrelated fellow travelers and slash the cost of charter. But flight sharing, or per-seat charter, has proved difficult to translate into a workable model for travelers or charter entities. Witness the 2008 demise of DayJet, the Florida-based air-taxi startup.

When it comes to reliability, there's a fundamental difference between the aviation field and just about every other walk of life. Nowhere is the chasm more visible than when you compare aviation's safety culture with what goes on in the computer industry. I know.

Gulfstream's G650, which the company will start delivering in 2012, will be the world's fastest and longest range business jet. Its tall and wide-bodied cabin-the largest in the company's fleet-will boast the latest in comfort and convenience features.

When the Boeing Business Jet made its debut in 1997, the manufacturer suggested that customers would put about $5 million to $7 million into the interior. Instead, the company discovered that owners were investing as much as $17 million to get everything they wanted, even if that meant adding weight and reducing the airplane's range.

Quote/Unquote

““CEOs go to their vacation homes just after companies report favorable news, and CEOs return to headquarters right before subsequent news is released. More good news is released when CEOs are back at work, and CEOs appear not to leave headquarters at all if a firm has adverse news to disclose. When CEOs are away from the office, stock prices behave quietly with sharply lower volatility. Volatility increases immediately when CEOs return to work.”
—David Yermack, a New York University finance professor, whose recently released study shows a correlation between when CEOs take their private jets on vacation and movements in their companies’ stock price
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